Stoneman Douglas reopened with a heightened police presence … resulting in new protests

This is why we can’t have nice things as a country. Florida radio station WTFL reports that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School reopened yesterday for classes.

Most returning students were probably relieved to see a beefed-up police presence. But some found the scene troubling. The Root explains:

On Wednesday afternoon, black students … assembled to draw attention to their growing safety concerns since returning to class — concerns they say may not necessarily be shared or highlighted by their white classmates, who have received the bulk of the national media’s attention following the deadly shooting that killed 17 at their school.

At a press conference they organized, black students told reporters they felt left out of the conversations on gun violence that have followed in the wake of the February shooting. And some safety measures that have been put in place at Stoneman Douglas High — namely, an increased police presence on campus — have left them feeling in more danger.

Among the students, the Miami Herald reports, was 17-year-old Kai Koerber, who told the crowd that he worried increased law enforcement at a predominantly white school meant he and other black students would be treated like “potential criminals.”

“It’s bad enough we have to return with clear backpacks,” Koerber said. “Should we also return with our hands up?”

The views of another student who spoke were captured on video by WLRN reporter Nadege Green, who live-tweeted the event:

I seriously doubt that resident genius David Hogg has a solution for bridging the racial divide, but since black students are the ones who perceive that there is a problem here, perhaps it should up to them to propose a viable alternative to more police.

Howard Portnoy has written for The Blaze, HotAir, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Conservative Firing Line, RedCounty, and New York’s Daily News. He has one published novel, Hot Rain, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and has been a guest on Radio Vice Online with Jim Vicevich, The Alana Burke Show, Smart Life with Dr. Gina, and The George Espenlaub Show.

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